Every religion and country has its share of extremists. Of course not every single follower or every single citizen will go to severe edges to fight for their beliefs. Also, not every religion or country constitution has laws that could be interpreted as extreme. In religions that do posses such laws, only a select few of its followers interpret that word so harshly and act on it. A passer by’s view of a religion should not consist solely of what one sees from a few extremists. At the same time, however, one must think that if the religious laws being acted upon by these few people are actually, deeply written into the religion’s dogmas then some semblance of those extreme notions must be in the minds of all the followers of that religion. Perhaps most followers don’t interpret the codes as strictly as others, but there still must be some root of those specific, violence provoking laws in everyday life for all of the followers. For this reason, if a nonfollower sees this violence stemming from a particular religion, he/she would understand not to stereotype, but also would think that the root of the violence must be interconnected between all of the members regardless of how small the amount.

This video is very shocking; it is very frightening. In this case, there are extremists that literally want to kill Americans. I’m sure the average middle class follower will not go to extremes to kill an American. I am actually friends with a few Muslim followers and they are very nice people, granted we haven’t ever really discussed religion. Whether there are five extremists or five hundred thousand, Americans are scared of being “beheaded” for not converting to Islam. The idea of war and death on specifically America raises personal questions for me. For example, how credible is Bin Laden? America has been a country for a little over two hundred years, and Islam has been a religion for much longer than that. So how could he say that Muslims should kill American’s because that’s part of their religious duty? Obviously that wasn’t written in their ancient laws, because America didn’t exist back when the laws were written.

It is widely known that the U.S. spends much more than other nations on military paraphernalia. It is also widely known that the U.S. has the best military and is the most influential country on the globe. U.S. citizens are protected from all sorts of harm and, for the most part, we live life styles that some citizens of other countries could only dream of. In order to keep our country in its high level of society, we must spend money to protect it and to do anything necessary to obtain vital resources.

This information about how war oriented the Obama administration is is especially shocking to me considering how Obama promised in his campaign to bring our troops home and end the wars. What is also shocking is the man that won a Nobel Peace Prize just bombed a country. Albeit, oil was the driving force in his decision but his actions are nevertheless ironic. This video says Obama’s decision to expand the forces, instead of bringing them home like he said he would, is resulting in many lobbyists becoming increasingly significant in the congressional opinion. The company Lockheed Martin is manufacturing an ultimate fighting jet with a huge price tag. The company is getting many states involved in the development of this plane, which is creating jobs in these states, and is winning over the minds of these states’ congressmen.

Another issue pressing our military budget is that of the presence of bases all around the world. It is important to have U.S. representatives in all countries but often times these bases are wasting money. Bases help with transporting equipment and troops, but they could be too costly for their intended meaning. Additionally, the people in these occupied countries do not like the U.S. soldiers being there. I doubt that our soldiers would do any individual harm to the inhabitants, but it is understandable that people would not want a foreign military base in their backyard. Apparently, U.S. leaders are considering moving out of these countries to avoid a civilian uprising against the bases. Americans have a need to be protected and the current media and government only want the peoples’ attention and approval so the administrators tell the people anything in order to sound credible.

War has a very profound effect on anyone that experiences it. Soldiers are now known to suffer Posttraumatic Stress Disease and civilians are constantly forced to sustain physical and mental hardships as a result of war. Everyone who experiences war seems to share common observations related to the sights and sounds. Additionally, certain fears are found to be common among those afflicted by war. The fear of personal death is definitely imminent, as well as the fear of losing one’s loved ones. The sociological fear of losing your closest life companions is perhaps a worse fear than losing your own life. A more horrible fear, however, is that of losing one’s sense of self. The effects of war can easily diminish one’s inner being, it can quickly deteriorate one’s personality, and it can greatly reduce one’s will, whatever that will may be. The will to better oneself, the will to care about others, or even the will to live can be incredibly impacted by experiencing war. This feeling “is like dying from inside out”.

The media and governments emphasize the combat portion of war and the amount of physical casualties caused by explosions, invasions, and battles. But the social corrosion often goes unseen in the eyes of the civilian war consumer. A feat more heroic than fighting a battle is the community that has been impacted by war staying strong to their beliefs and norms and continuing to live despite every privation imposed on them.

Another loss of war that goes unseen is the statistics of corruption done to women and children. Women are abused and often raped during war and the media never shows it so the public is unaware. Since everyone is so interested in strategies and weapons, no one realizes the terror done to women. People only want to become the best country with the best army and in doing so, bypass the most alarming and most serious threat to humanity during the time of war. That threat is the destruction of the human being. Women are being abused and their humanity is thusly being stripped of them. Whole communities are bearing unbelievable casualties that the rest of the world does not see.

The inequality discussions were surprising to me. I knew that there was a small sector of super rich people that held the bulk of America’s wealth, as most countries have, but I did not know it was as extreme as the top .1% “earning” $27 million a year. I also believed, and I still do, that in order to get rich, you must work hard in some aspect. You must be better than the rest of the population somehow. I think if you get a degree and work hard, you should get to keep every penny you earn. If you go to school for eight or ten years and become a brilliant medical doctor, why should you have to give half of your income to the drug user who dropped out of your high school? From this class, I have also realized that there a many people who do not honestly earn their wealth and actually steal it from the rest of society. While thinking about this, it doesn’t come as that big of a shock, because that is what is happening in third world countries; which means that, at a basic level, humans do think and operate with extreme amounts of greed.

If an elected official is using his/her “insider knowledge” to only financially better themselves, then that it a problem. Obviously this is not equality; but neither is the established doctor, who happens to be in the same income bracket as the corrupt officials, being forced to pay higher taxes because he/she actually, truly earns more money. I never understood why some people want to penalize others for being successful. America is the land of opportunity, we have stories all the time of people going from “rags to riches”, so there is not much a reason for anyone not be able to be successful with some hard work. I know people will say that kids born into low income families have less of a chance of becoming rich because of their environment, but I really honestly believe that this is only because society tells them that. If nobody told young kids in poor neighborhoods that they will never be rich and there’s nothing they can do about it so they might as well just make the “nasty rich people” pay their bills for them, and instead enforced a positive work ethic into those children, I guarantee that more people would be moving out of the slums and into regular houses. The problem with the inequality is that people would rather have stuff given to them, rather than take stuff for themselves. There will always be rich, because there will always be people who work hard and there will be people who lie, cheat, and steal. The solution is not to just raise taxes on all rich people, because some of them actually deserve their wealth. If people stopped thinking that every rich person is slanderous and sly, and instead worried about making their own living, nobody would be complaining about inequality and how unfair and horrible the economic system is.

I agree that those who illegally obtain their riches should be punished, but don’t punish those who earned their riches. I am sure that any American who wants to exceed in the world of finance will be able to. Some may exceed more than others because of their respective starting points, but hard work should be able to earn money. Another reason why I think most people don’t want to earn money is if they do earn a certain amount, they will no longer be available for welfare and other benefits. I personally know two families, where the mother doesn’t work and the father works part time in a plastic cup factory, and they have welfare and WIC and all other benefits. These people are not disabled and they have high school diplomas, but they choose not to work full time, or at all in the wives’ cases, just so they will qualify for free money from the government, who takes that money from kid they went to high school with, who went to medical school and is know the head doctor of a local hospital. Inequality exists for a reason. It won’t exist if people don’t want it to, but everyone just wants to have their lives paid for without doing any work themselves.

Religion seems to be slipping away through the generations. As a firm Catholic, my parents and grandparents always tell me how involved society was with religion 40 or 60 years ago. Everyone in town went to church every weekend and stores were closed for Christmas, Easter, and even some Holy days. People were allowed to say words like “Christmas” and “the birth of Our Lord” without getting demeaning looks from passers-by. Nobody made fun of faith and nobody ever took offense to a certain faith. But now, for some reason, reality has moved towards people not only wanting to be different than their parents, but also to be very assertive in their actions. People don’t like the rules that are contained in most religions, but they still want to feel safe “if there is a god”. Nobody was questioned for anything they said in public, nobody had to fear that someone would be offended by their words. Hardly anyone got offended by another person’s actions; people just understood that the person saying the offensive words had problems of his or her own.

In this era of political correctness, and people getting upset over every little thing they hear, no public speaker wants say or do anything that might cause a citizen to think they’ve been offended. For this reason, many politicians and public figures tend not to affiliate themselves with a distinct group at the onset of their career. In today’s world, people are hoping to find something to gripe about and hopefully wreak benefits from. For example, recently Chick-Fil-A catered a meeting of an anti-gay group. Immediately, the gay community was outraged and refused to buy any food from the fast food chain. Chick-Fil-A never said they, as a corporation, had anything against gays, they just sold food to some people who are against gays. They probably sold food to people who belong to all sorts of different groups, as does every restaurant in America. In this case, a group of people wanted to make the rest of the world feel bad for them by stretching a small event into a seemingly large, hateful incident.

This relates to religion because many people today will take the same course of action whenever they hear words or phrases that do not agree with everyone in society’s personal beliefs. For this reason, religion is dwindling. The growing importance of being politically correct all the time is having a negative impact on this country. Personally, my freedom of speech is being suppressed in public because I don’t know if what I say will “offend” a person sitting behind me. Honestly, I would never say anything that I, myself, believe to be hurtful to anyone, but of course I do not know what other people think is hurtful. So I have to keep my mouth shut and my eyes on myself so I am not called a racist, sexist, anti-Semite, gender biased, ignorant fool by anyone that even slightly thinks what I’m saying or doing is offensive. For this reason, religion is being driven to extinction. Nobody wants to be labeled anything different that what society wants, so we erase our personal beliefs and surrender our freedoms so as not to be outcast by society. Equality is a great goal to strive for, I want our society to be seriously equal across all boundaries. Equal does not mean, however, that since 400 years ago, people that looked like me had bad things to say about other people, now I have to pay the price for it. Equality is not someone with jobless parents getting to go to college for free when others have to pay full price. Equality is not someone who has a job being forced to pay for someone who does not have a job, except in emergency or serious medical cases. Equality is not one particular race of people getting admitted to college on more lenient parameters than another race, just because the school needs to have "diversity" in order to get funding. Everyone rants and raves about how society needs to be "equal" and with no discrimination; I agree completely with that. But sometimes, this is taken a little to far and there is, in fact, discrimination going on but nobody notices; and the people who do notice, won't say anything because if they do, they will be called a racist, sexist, etc.

The American social conception of being “white” has changed drastically over the centuries. Long ago being “white” meant you were somewhat educated and held some sort of meaningful possession. In today’s world, “white” often puts down an unusual, odd, or quirky character who could also possibly be classified as a “nerd”. Not all ethnically white people are referred to as “white”, only those who chose not to open themselves to other cultures out of fear, or those who do open up but do not do so fluently are labeled “white”. Sometimes, “white” people are called out for their inability to carry out certain social graces, such as rapping or dancing, and shock ensues when a certain action is carried out. For example in Wild Cherry’s hit, “Play that Funky Music”, the general public seems surprised that a “white boy” could play “funky music” and encourage him to do so. In reference to the current meaning of “white”, for instance, the rapper Eminem is ethnically white, but hardly anyone would claim Marshall Mathers to be a “white boy” in a derogatory sense.

In this video, this man can certainly be considered odd or quirky. For those who carry weapons, a proper holster is not always the main concern. Most people would simply slip the gun naturally into their clothing as opposed to buying a complex and expensive holding apparatus. Excluding police officers, weapons are generally needed not for protection but to show authority on the streets. Whenever one flashes a weapon to potential enemies, respect and caution is immediately rendered. Unless one is traveling alone in a notoriously crime ridden neighborhood, very rarely would one need a gun for protection. Since this man is carrying a gun and is putting so much though and effort into such an usual holster the viewer tends to view this man as quirky and odd and could possibly label him as “white”.

This man demeanor and his view of the holster would definitely lead one to assume that he was not the most popular kid in high school. His actions are peculiar, as if he is trying too hard to be formal but does not exactly know how. He could also be considered “white” for his good qualities such as his proper annunciation of words, his tucked in shirt, and his military style haircut.

Everyone’s life is influenced by factors and forces outside of personal control. They shape our lives in ways completely undetected by us and cause us to live how we live. Factors that determine the strings are our personal surroundings, upbringing, financial position, political position, family, and a multitude of other features that we inherit upon birth. Granted we could change our financial or political position if we really try, though our starting point is not determined by us but by these invisible strings that populate everyone’s inner being. Since some people start off at a better situation than others, all of our individual views on the world are vastly different. Also all of our paths to “success” are differently shaped by our strings. Not only are our successes different, our personal struggles vary proportionally to our starting positions in life put forth by these strings. Certain medical struggles can be imposed upon those that are placed in a rough environment. This plight is specifically felt in Helsinki, Finland where the only shines for five hours a day in the winter months due to the town’s position on the globe.

The sun is obviously a naturally occurring outside factor that shapes our lives, but it is nonetheless a forceful one. As humans we require warmth and light to live; when these basic resources are limited by our global location, our physical bodies and mental states can begin to feel irregular. A deprivation of natural light can often cause depression and can lead people to engineer their own source of light. For the people of Helsinki, their newly traditional light festival aims at not only brightening the spirits of its citizens, but also enlightening them of the importance of light in their town.

In addition to their festival, the town has only constructed and implemented a revolutionary electric light system. They use a set of bright lights that regulate their vision and adapt it to living in darkness. Citizens of Helsinki also refresh themselves from the darkness by swimming in naturally freezing water or by simply fleeing the country to a more luminous location.

Education has always been important in any thriving country for a multitude of social, economic, and traditional reasons. Countries with a more educated population tend to fare better in international trade and relations because their citizens are more apt for various kinds of problem solving and understanding of different varieties of people. Another main point of education is for countries to keep their cultural identities while still remaining in and contributing to globalization which improves everyone’s standard of living. The manner of ensuring this education has changed over the years and is recently under intense scrutiny from the current generation. Methods of educating older generations have become obsolete in regards to the contemporary job market. For example, a college degree does not absolutely guarantee a job in today’s world, whereas thirty years ago a college degree meant you could work in any city of your desire.

Today’s education is based on the Enlightenment period and the Industrial revolution period of the 18th century, and has been altered very little since that time. The Enlightenment that brought education was preceded, at least in thought, by economic circumstances that resulted in more money for government. It held the fundamentals of academic ability while still being driving by the economy. Unfortunately, time has proven that this system causes disorder among governments and citizens.

The confusion and disorder today can partially be attributed to medical professionals over-prescribing intense medication to children when such measures are really not necessary. In modern society, children are exposed to a myriad of technological distractions that clearly would divert their attention of comparably uninteresting school studies. The alleged “epidemic” of prescription medications to force children to focus on school is deemed ‘fictitious” when one realizes this idea. The drugs being given to children cause a more anaesthetic view of the world which closes off the victim’s senses and makes them not “fully alive”. Our system of education would be better off if the children could be aroused by the senses of learning rather than drugged into focusing on subjects that are very uninteresting. The current system is modeled off industrialism which people do not question and merely accept rather than taking time to fully understand its significance.

The idea of limited children in a family can seem necessary to control the overall population or even better manage a family’s resources. Westerners understand polygamy as a life choice that some people make for no particular strategic reason other than religion or the need to be different. Very rarely would an individual from the United States assume that a multiple marriage is being carried out purely for financial family reasons. However, this video depicts this occurrence in a manner such as to shed light upon sociologically sound reasons for polygamy or polyandry. In a region where religion and tradition dominate the social scene, this practice being widely accepted and praised certainly allows for curiosity among those unfamiliar with the custom.
In this remote area of the Himilayas, polyandry is quite practical for keeping farming and food assets in the family. Often brothers will marry the same women to ensure that their family’s land stays undivided inside their family. Also, women are only permitted by their culture “to become pregnant only so often”, to keep the population at maintainable levels. This culture as evolved to the point where innate human feelings like jealousy, temptation, and male dominance are not nearly as important as the future well being of the family unit. The society of polyandry also requires the men to take on the role of Western women and become responsible for cooking, cleaning, and nursing children.
Since this area is so isolated from the outside world, its inhabitants were never exposed to the lifestyle of those in other regions of the globe. However, modern times have issued in the inevitable wave of technology, allowing these native Himalayans to obtain insight into the cultures of the outside world. Along with the influx of technology and new insights, education is threatening the lifestyle of polyandry. As more of the population is becoming educated, families are better apt to understanding how to distribute their resources effectively. In order for polyandry to persist in this area, fathers must only birth one male child so that he will be the only heir to the family land. For these reasons, polyandry is estimated to cease within the next half century.

The question of human origin has been a popular topic since the development of the modern brain; it is responsible for nearly every societal action carried out by humans. Most of humanity accepts that everyone came from one common ancestor and that we are all essentially related in some way. Since we are all more or less biologically connected, it is not a far stretch to claim that we all share the same fundamental thoughts and feelings. Even though thousands of issues are hotly debated daily by dozens of social groups, the fact that a particular issue is even important at all to us conjoins us as the human race. For this reason, everyone must have common feelings to certain events. Society must be larger than just one person or a group of people. Basic human nature dictates other’s actions. Everything everyone does somehow influences the actions of everyone else. This is not only due to our common biological ancestry, but also because of those mirror neurons discovered in 1990 Italy.

The phenomenon of empathy is related our brain’s soft wiring. Everyone is born with empathy, and we also gain other forms of empathy as we mature. Once we realize the importance and the essence of life, we have reached empathic maturity and can begin to view other people’s lives and actions in relation to our own. On Earth empathy is driven by human nature, the concept of death, and the need to belong. Everyone is aware of others’ shortcomings and not only do we feel the difficulty of those shortcomings, but also we react to these feelings in a manner predetermined by our sociological position. Regardless of our individual feelings, all humans feel a sense of solidarity in that every being on Earth posses a uniquely precious life. Empathy allows us to work with each other and form larger, stronger social groups and overcome basic human obstacles as a group. The empathy we are born with forces us to work with each other and help each other and ultimately help the Earth. In this respect, empathy brings about civilization.